Etini
Valued Contributor
No More Garbage- Biogas Technology
Cooking gas has taken over most Nigerian kitchens from the traditional way of burning firewood, and charcoal to kerosene-powered stoves. The reason why most cooks prefer the technology behind this Liquefied Petroleum Gas is that, unlike the traditional methods, this by-product of natural gas is cheaper, lasts longer and its usage does not dirty cooking pots. It is fast, odorless, and can efficiently be used indoors thereby conforming to its modern-day use, thus, the reason for its increased market demand. However, in recent months, there has been a sharp upsurge in the price of LPG with prices more than doubling. This has left many families stranded with some people resorting back to the old firewood method.
The biogas technology could provide a cheaper, sustainable alternative to energy generation in homes. It doesn't require sophisticated equipment before you could your mini gas plant right in your backyard. What is biogas? Biogas is a kind of gas produced after organic materials (plant and animal waste products e.g. plant leaves, dead animals, and animal droppings) are broken down by bacteria in an oxygen-free environment, a process called anaerobic digestion. Biogas systems use anaerobic digestion to recycle these organic materials and turn them into biogas, which contains both energy (gas), and valuable soil products (liquids and solids). Breaking it down, plants and animal waste could be gathered into an airtight container. After some time, this waste would decompose and generate gas which can be used to cook and generate electricity. Any organic waste ranging from leaves of plants, animal dung, and dead animals if put into an airtight system would generate gas called biogas.
All the waste we struggle to dispose of could be recycled to generate gas for us. Biogas contains about 50-70% methane, 30-40% carbon iv oxide, and a trace amount of other gases waste. The biogas system also produces a high-quality fertilizer that can be used to enrich agricultural soils. With biogas it is a win-win situation, your wastes are taken care of and you get energy and fertilizer from the waste.
How then does a biogas system work? Let's explore. The first thing you would need when trying to set up a biogas plant is a digester. A digester is a large container where you would pour in all the organic that you wish to use for gas generation. A digester must be airtight. This means that it must not allow air to enter it. Remember for biogas to be produced anaerobic bacteria have to work on the organic waste breaking it down to produce gas. Anaerobic bacteria are bacteria that work in the absence of oxygen. That explains why air doesn't have to enter the digester. In my mini biogas plant, I used a dispenser water bottle as my digester. You would need another container for gas collection, in my mini plant, I used a tube tire to collect the gas, two PVC pipes, two gas pipes, a gas controller, and a burner.
You make two holes in your digester, one at the top and one at the opposite side. There are the inlet and outlet pipes respectively. Here the two PVC pipes are put and soldered so there is no space for air to enter your digester. One gas pipe is affixed to the digester and the other end is channeled and attached to the gas collection tank. The second pipe is attached to the gas collection tank with a gas valve controller. The other end of this pipe goes to the burner.
Then time to load your digester. Cow dung, pig dung, poultry dung, and plant leaves. For our prototype, we used 60kg of cow dung. Mix with water and pour into the digester through the inlet pipe. Seal the digester to be completely airtight and leave for five days. After five days, turn on the gas controller and light your burner, it would produce a blue flame that can be used to cook. The gas pipe can be connected to a biogas generator to power a building. There are ready-to-use plants that one can just purchase and start feeding with organic waste to start generating gas.
Biogas technology is a cheap way of generating energy if you have access to organic waste. It also helps the environment to reduce global warming by channeling organic waste to use which hitherto could have been released into the environment. It doesn't require the use of sophisticated technology. The downside to biogas technology is the ease of getting an abundant supply of organic waste to keep the system generating gas.
Cooking gas has taken over most Nigerian kitchens from the traditional way of burning firewood, and charcoal to kerosene-powered stoves. The reason why most cooks prefer the technology behind this Liquefied Petroleum Gas is that, unlike the traditional methods, this by-product of natural gas is cheaper, lasts longer and its usage does not dirty cooking pots. It is fast, odorless, and can efficiently be used indoors thereby conforming to its modern-day use, thus, the reason for its increased market demand. However, in recent months, there has been a sharp upsurge in the price of LPG with prices more than doubling. This has left many families stranded with some people resorting back to the old firewood method.
The biogas technology could provide a cheaper, sustainable alternative to energy generation in homes. It doesn't require sophisticated equipment before you could your mini gas plant right in your backyard. What is biogas? Biogas is a kind of gas produced after organic materials (plant and animal waste products e.g. plant leaves, dead animals, and animal droppings) are broken down by bacteria in an oxygen-free environment, a process called anaerobic digestion. Biogas systems use anaerobic digestion to recycle these organic materials and turn them into biogas, which contains both energy (gas), and valuable soil products (liquids and solids). Breaking it down, plants and animal waste could be gathered into an airtight container. After some time, this waste would decompose and generate gas which can be used to cook and generate electricity. Any organic waste ranging from leaves of plants, animal dung, and dead animals if put into an airtight system would generate gas called biogas.
All the waste we struggle to dispose of could be recycled to generate gas for us. Biogas contains about 50-70% methane, 30-40% carbon iv oxide, and a trace amount of other gases waste. The biogas system also produces a high-quality fertilizer that can be used to enrich agricultural soils. With biogas it is a win-win situation, your wastes are taken care of and you get energy and fertilizer from the waste.
How then does a biogas system work? Let's explore. The first thing you would need when trying to set up a biogas plant is a digester. A digester is a large container where you would pour in all the organic that you wish to use for gas generation. A digester must be airtight. This means that it must not allow air to enter it. Remember for biogas to be produced anaerobic bacteria have to work on the organic waste breaking it down to produce gas. Anaerobic bacteria are bacteria that work in the absence of oxygen. That explains why air doesn't have to enter the digester. In my mini biogas plant, I used a dispenser water bottle as my digester. You would need another container for gas collection, in my mini plant, I used a tube tire to collect the gas, two PVC pipes, two gas pipes, a gas controller, and a burner.
You make two holes in your digester, one at the top and one at the opposite side. There are the inlet and outlet pipes respectively. Here the two PVC pipes are put and soldered so there is no space for air to enter your digester. One gas pipe is affixed to the digester and the other end is channeled and attached to the gas collection tank. The second pipe is attached to the gas collection tank with a gas valve controller. The other end of this pipe goes to the burner.
Then time to load your digester. Cow dung, pig dung, poultry dung, and plant leaves. For our prototype, we used 60kg of cow dung. Mix with water and pour into the digester through the inlet pipe. Seal the digester to be completely airtight and leave for five days. After five days, turn on the gas controller and light your burner, it would produce a blue flame that can be used to cook. The gas pipe can be connected to a biogas generator to power a building. There are ready-to-use plants that one can just purchase and start feeding with organic waste to start generating gas.
Biogas technology is a cheap way of generating energy if you have access to organic waste. It also helps the environment to reduce global warming by channeling organic waste to use which hitherto could have been released into the environment. It doesn't require the use of sophisticated technology. The downside to biogas technology is the ease of getting an abundant supply of organic waste to keep the system generating gas.
